Entries from 2011
- 10 of 128 results
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No More Gerrymanders: Congressional Representation in the Seven At-Large States
- Posted: January 3, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin, Fair Voting Plans
- Categories: Home, The Fair Voting Solution for U.S. House Elections, Fair Voting/Proportional Representation, Redistricting, All Reports
Though spared the controversies of congressional redistricting, winner-take-all rules still plague the seven at-large states (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming). Nowhere are the shortcomings of our voting system more acute than in at-large winner-take-all races, where one individual is - rather astonishingly - responsible for representing the political and demographic diversity of an entire state. Read our latest critique of winner-take-all elections and our analysis of congressional elections in these at-large states.
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Down the Rabbit Hole of Party Primary Rules
- Posted: December 22, 2011
- Author(s): Elise Helgesen
- Categories: Home
The time has almost come for all eyes to turn to Iowa and the rest of the states as they begin to hold their caucuses and primaries leading up to the 2012 election. But the world of primaries and caucuses is one of confusion, centering on party rules and overlapping state laws. My recent update of the Congressional and Presidential Primaries page on our website showed me just how complicated open, closed, semi-closed, and everything in between could be.
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No More Gerrymanders: Missouri's Partisan Plan versus the Fair Voting Alternative
- Posted: March 15, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin, Rob Richie, Fair Voting Plans, Lindsey Needham
- Categories: Home, The Fair Voting Solution for U.S. House Elections, Fair Voting/Proportional Representation, Redistricting
Lawmakers in Missouri have recently passed a congressional redistricting plan that gives Republican candidates a strong advantage in 6 of 8 seats and protects nearly all incumbents. There's a better way--fair voting systems in multi-seat "super-districts." Read the latest in our fair voting plan series.
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Egypt: The Military Struggles to Maintain its Legitimacy
- Posted: December 12, 2011
- Author(s): Arab Spring Series, Hüseyin Koyuncu
- Categories: Home, Middle East and Africa, Elections Worldwide
Amidst controversies and protests, Egypt last month held the first in a series of elections for a new parliament. FairVote has covered the region's moves toward representative democracy in our Arab Spring series. Here’s the first of a series of posts analyzing the elections, starting with a focus on the state country before the voting last month.
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Learning a Lesson from Egypt’s Universal Voter Registration
- Posted: December 7, 2011
- Author(s): Elise Helgesen
- Categories: Home, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Universal Voter Registration
Egypt recently began the process of electing members to its People's Assembly. Egypt's parliamentary elections provide an example for the United States worth taking note. Egypt uses a system of universal voter registration, which helped bring large numbers of voters to the polls. FairVote believes this type of universal voter registration would modernize and improve the type of voter registration in American elections.
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Presidential Tracker: Looking at the Structure
- Posted: December 1, 2011
- Author(s): Presidential Tracker, Katie P. Kelly
- Categories: Presidential Tracker, Home, National Popular Vote
Tracking the president's events and visits doesn't produce surprises considering the electoral system under which he operates, but it does provide insight into the inadequacies of our current structure -- affirming that the rules have a direct correlation on the outcomes.
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Response to “A rogue convention? How GOP party rules may surprise in 2012”
- Posted: December 1, 2011
- Author(s): Rob Richie, Elise Helgesen
- Categories: Home
Following up on our recent article in Politico, we share our thoughts about the 2012 Republican National Convention, a few points about Rule 38's unit rule and its implication on delegates' voting methods, and finally, our response to critics who say we have misinterpreted the rules.
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Understanding how the Iowa caucuses work – and don’t work
- Posted: January 3, 2012
- Author(s): Rob Richie
- Categories: Home, Instant Runoff Voting, Presidential Nominations Reform
The national media is in a frenzy about the Republican contest in tonight’s Iowa caucuses. Unfortunately, most journalists seem to be getting the story wrong – and a key reason is not understanding or even thinking about the rules and their implications.
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“Mr. Normal” Francois Hollande to Face French President Sarkozy
- Posted: November 23, 2011
- Author(s): Hüseyin Koyuncu
- Categories: Home, Europe, International Elections
Francois Hollande, the so-called “Mr. Normal” of French politics, will now represent the Socialist party in the April 2012 general election as his party seeks to unseat incumbent first-term president Nicolas Sarkozy. The party’s most critical challenge will be to unite behind its official candidate, lest bitter feelings and ideological squabbling endanger the party’s chances against Sarkozy. Those focused on electoral process are particularly interested in how Hollande won France's first-ever national primary to pick a major party nominee
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Democracy Lost: the Iowa Caucus, the New Hampshire Primary, and the Shortchanging of American Presidential Politics
- Posted: January 10, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin
- Categories: Home, Presidential Nominations Reform
Although balloting in the 2012 Republican nomination battle has just begun, the race already appears to be over after just two contests: Iowa and New Hampshire. Such a result, in which the vast majority of the nation's voters are reduced to irrelevancy by an abbreviated primary process, is the newest chapter in a disturbing narrative of democratic ideals lost. Unlike most commentators, FairVote examines the preeminence of Iowa and New Hampshire with a critical eye, asking why two states with a combined 1.4% of the national population should possess a stranglehold on American presidential politics.